Falcons
now looking up at rival Grandville

Originally published February 1, 2007

BY DAN STICKRADT

STAFF WRITER

When the new
competitive cheer rankings are released later this week, there may just be a
new team holding down the No. 1 spot in the Division 1 coaches
poll.

Grandville, state
runner-up last season, put together quite a display at the Lake Orion
Invitational on Saturday, winning the first two rounds and finishing second
in the other to win going away with the team title.

In the
process, Grandville also defeated top-ranked and defending state champion Rochester and a host of
other state-ranked schools.

Grandville
collected a three-round total of 735.5 points, well ahead of runner-up Rochester (720.5) and fifth-ranked Lake Orion
(715.6). Eighth-ranked Hartland (699.6) and No. 9 Rochester Stoney Creek
(692.8) rounded out the top five in the Division 1 team standings.

Rochester
Adams finished 10th overall (640.2) in D-1, while Rochester Hills Lutheran
Northwest was the only local school in Division 2. The Crusaders placed ninth
(479.5).

Grandville
held a 204.5-204 lead on Rochester after Round
I with Lake Orion back at 194.5. The Bulldogs
edged Rochester again in Round II
(220.5-119.5) and put the finishing touches with 310.5 points in Round III,
which was second in the stunt round but well ahead of Rochester's third-round score of 297.

"That's
okay. We'll just have to go back to the drawing board -- and we need to
do," said Rochester
coach Susan Wood. "We don't have any excuses. The last three weeks we've
been cheering at home basketball games and with competitions, two a week,
when you add those together you don't have many practice days. I think we're
a little tired right now.

"It will
be exciting to get back on track with one competition a week," Wood
continued. "We'll be able to fix the problems we're having."

Lake Orion won the third round at
312.0 which helped the Dragons secure third overall in the final standings. Stoney Creek scored 300 points in the final round.

"I'm
really pleased because we had an (all-time) best first round for us and a
best third round for us," said Lake Orion
coach Nancy DeAvila. "Our second round was one of the best we've had.

"We
finished third, but it was a close third. It wasn't Grandville and Rochester and then
everyone else 30 or more points behind. We're a lot more consistent this
year, and that goes back to the experience factor."

A total of 60
varsity, junior varsity, freshman and middle school teams competed Saturday,
drawing more than 2,200 spectators.